If An Illusion Is All I Have
by JessWho
Summary: Alex starts getting Post-It Notes that suggest Molly is in danger. But where is Molly exactly? Through it all Alex finds the comfort she needs from her boss. GALEX
1. PostIt Notes

Expect Galex. Will do my best to update often.

A big big thank you to my beta Rantandrumour, she's a great writer herself and has been more than helpful. Any mistakes are mine.

* * *

A day off for Alex was never as simple as it seemed. They were rare and would have been treasured things, if her mind would have allowed it.  
More often than not she would spend the day waiting, for a glimpse of her past or rather future life. Hoping for a word of encouragement from her daughter or a clue that would set her on the yellow brick road, to home.  
The days when Alex s television did not click on of its own accord or she did not get called into work, those were the days she could do without.  
Today is that day. Today instead of hearing from either of the important aspects of both her lives, she gets a second post-it note.  
As soon as the letter box rattles, she runs to the window, trying to seek out the delivery man, but there is no one in sight. Moving back to the door, she picks up an envelope, her stomach pitching to the ground.

..*..

The following day Alex went to work feeling less than her usual perky self. She had not had a wink of sleep and unfortunately, she was not convinced the application of an extra layer of make-up was going to hide the darkness below her eyes.  
She settled into her seat, pulling out two sandwich bags, both containing the letters from the two previous days and locked them in her bottom draw. Alex lent against the back of her chair, after having slid the key under her desk lamp.  
"Ma'am, letter for you," Shaz smiled, handing out the post she had collected.  
Alex slid her finger beneath the seal, dread pooling in the pit of her stomach. Pulling out the familiar yellow post-it note, her face depleted of any remnant of colour at the red smudges on it.  
_"Time's running out Alexandra. I have a little girl who wants to see you. Do not keep me waiting; Molly doesn't like it when I get angry"_  
Breathing heavily and trying her best not to start visibly shaking, Alex put the post-it note down covering it with her hand, as Shaz came tottering over with a steaming cup of coffee.  
"There you are, Ma'am. Did you enjoy your day off?" she enquired politely.  
"Yes Shaz, thank you. Did you and Chris get up to much?" Alex asked, trying to sound as though she was fully engaged in what Shaz had to say.  
_Was Molly in danger? Why was Evan not with her?_ Alex had so many unanswered questions, each one craving her immediate attention. The loudest of which was, _Molly, was she here in 1982?_  
"... I really wanted to thump him one" Shaz finished, glaring at a sheepish Chris. Alex rolled her eyes and shook her head for good measure as she handed her the file for last week's blag.

..*..

Once alone again Alex looked down at the post-it note, tracing Molly's name "Oh Molls."  
Picking up the envelope, she tilted the contents that had previously weighed down the package into her hand. Her heart leapt savagely in her chest. In her hand, lay a Swiss army knife, the blade open and painted with blood and a twist of matted hair.  
Alex gasped with an audible rapid intake of breath, just loud enough to get the attention of her nearest colleagues.  
"Ma'am? Ma'am you all right? Oh you're very pale" Shaz asked as she moved swiftly to her side, Chris and Ray following.  
Alex open her mouth briefly to respond, but feeling bile at the back of her throat, merely shook her head.  
"Why are you gossiping like a bunch o' pansies and not working?" Gene Hunt bellowed from his door way, giving Chris a stern look.  
"Its Ma'am," he said nodding to the shaking figure.  
Gene took one look at her and started barking orders. "Chris take that," he said pointing to the blade, Post it-note and envelope. "I want dabs, everything. Ray get onto your snotty nosed informants, see if they've got wind of any funny business. Shaz, tea for the lady, with enough sugar to make her foam at the mouth." Gene crouched down in front of her, turning her in her chair so she faced him.  
"I can't," she said, swaying slightly as she stood up. "I'm gonna..." Alex's hand cut out the rest of her sentence as she stumbled out of Gene's reach with it clasped across her mouth.

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Thank you for reading.


	2. The Wounded Deer

A/N: Almost lost all my story files due to a virus on my laptop, but with some quick thinking i managed to save them and am now using the trusty old home PC. Shouldn't have a problem with regular updates as i already have several Chapters finished and in need of a polish.

A very big thank you to Rantandrumour, for taking on this task. Still all mistakes are mine, even with help I'm quite useless :)

* * *

Grabbing a tissue Alex wiped her mouth, but did not get up from her kneeling position in the toilet cubicle. Her stomach still felt unsettled, her mind still reeling from the shock of it all. The notes. The knife. The Blood. The hair. Molly. She wanted to do this on her own. If her daughter was in this world too, then it was up to her to find her and find out why. Gene and CID in the mix would help, but selfishly she had wanted to be the one to save her daughter. To prove she was a good mum. Alex let out a strangled sob. She needed Molly to know she could be a good mum.  
Knocking the toilet door open, Alex fought the dizzying rush creeping over from having stood too quickly. She pointedly ignored Gene, and leaned against a sink. God she was a mess, she berated herself as she turned on the cold tap. She cupped a handful of water in her hands and used it to wash the taste of bitterness from her mouth. The prompt refreshment of frigid water over her face was short lived and did nothing to relieve the raw sting of her eyes.

As Alex followed Gene into his office, all the inquisitive eyes that had immediately centralized on them, were banished as he closed the blinds. After a few minutes of a strained, but collective silence, Alex accepted the customary glass of whiskey and consumed the few mouthfuls of amber liquid in one go. She could feel him waiting. He had not come out with question after question, had not raised his voice at her, had not spoken a word. Alex lent back into the visitors chair, tilting her head to inspect the black and white chess board that acted as a ceiling. "There are two more notes in my desk," she breathed "Bottom draw. I started getting them two days ago, one a day," She closed her eyes abruptly, still unable to look at him. "The one you saw," she said biting her lip "I thought she was safe, and then the note it had her name. She was supposed to be safe, if something had happened to her surely I would have got a message" Alex barked out a panicked laugh, thinking of the post-it notes.

"What the hell happened?" She asked finally looking at him, right into his eyes like he would know the answer "I don't know where she is. I am her mum and she needs me and I am not there." In seconds she had gone from toeing the line of hysterical laughter to letting out a piercing cry, suchlike a wounded deer.

He gathered her tightly in his arms, clutching her against him. Cradled her as though he could bring all her broken pieces together again and stop her from crying. He could not be sure he had ever heard a sound quite like it. It was an unequivocally soul shattering noise, that he believed would crumble the foundations of his heart.  
Gene kept her in his embrace, taking the weight of her, long after her legs failed her. Only after her tears had subsided into hiccupping breaths, did he carry her out into CID "I'm taking the lady home. Under no circumstances are you to leave. I want two squad cars watching her flat." He stopped before he got to the double doors. "Shaz, there's two more notes in the bottom draw. You had better have something to tell me once she is settled, or I shall be playing snooker with your balls." he addressed the room before taking her away.

* * *

Thank you for reading.


	3. Keep Your Hands To Yourself

Many thanks to my wonderful beta Rantandrumour! ~ Any mistakes are of course mine ~

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Alex's entire body felt over heated, a heaviness shrouding her. Her head felt fuzzy, sitting up made her body feel as though it was jolting back and forth on a rough and unruly sea. Almost silently nudging the door open, Alex peered out to see if she could find the source of disjointed voices. On the very instance light from the other room shone on to her face, an agonizing thumb took up behind her eyes.  
On seeing nothing, she continued with a learned caution. The voice held a familiarity, but in her state of tiredness she did not trust herself to be correct on the matter. Whoever it was clearly did not care if she was woken.  
The fear that had crept up Alex s spine dissipated at the sight of Gene Hunt sat on her sofa. Leaning forward, elbows on knees, dispatching orders down the phone, she could not help but be happy. He was in her flat.  
He dropped the phone into its cradle. "Go back to bed, it's late," he said without looking up.  
Alex padded barefoot across the hard wood floor to her shabby rug, before sitting down next to him with a heavy sigh "Can't. Not tired."  
Gene picked up his half empty glass of whiskey. "Why didn't you tell me she was missing?" he asked with hard eyes.  
Alex took the glass from his long fingers. "Her name wasn't mentioned until today," she replied in a low voice.  
"Would you have told me?" his voice was laced with hurt, and she could feel the guilt wash over her in waves. She wanted to say she would have, but she could not bring herself to lie to him. Instead she stayed mute, resting her head against his shoulder in a shamed apology.

.*.

They had not spoken in a long while. Her breathing was getting more spaced out and her grip on his tumbler of whiskey had loosened considerably. It felt nice, Alex falling asleep next to him, her face pressed against his arm and her toes seeking the warmth beneath his thigh. Despite his whole being wanting to stay firmly fixed in this exact spot, watching the way her body curled into itself, he knew the position could not be comfortable and the way her toes squirmed further under his leg indicated that she was cold and it would be best to move her before all the blood left his brain.  
"Come on sleeping beauty, time for bed" he spoke softly, moving a tendril of hair to find her eyes staring back at him. "See you in the morning" he said helping her up, and slumping back down on to the stripy sofa.  
He watched her standing in front of him, hands curled up into the arm of her night shirt. For all her thirty plus years, she suddenly looked like a child. A child afraid to go to sleep, because of the nightmare that lurks in the shadowy corners of her vast mind.  
"Gene would you..." She stopped, her mouth closed in a straight line. Feeling stupid, feeling less like a Detective Inspector by the minute, as her lip wobbled in anticipation of rejection.  
"Come on then" he says gently, walking with her into the bedroom "Keep your hands to yourself mind. Just because I'm a vulnerable individual, doesn't mean you can take advantage of me" He grinned cheekily and winked reassuringly at her.

* * *

Thank you for reading.


	4. Centre Of Gravity

Again many thank you's to the wonderful Rantandrumour.... as ever mistakes are all mine

* * *

Alex turned the radio on as she removed her make up with a cotton pad. Keeping the sound down low, she leaned in with eager curiosity. There had not been any messages for a week or so.  
She was aware of the song changing before a whooshing sound rushed through her head, and everything suddenly sounded as though it was under water, marred by a fuzzy haze. Red bleeding into black, running into gold. Her senses dulled.  
Just a whisper. "Alex." Sounds rose in volume and pitch, reaching a deafening crescendo, before coming to an abrupt end, just as the door to the bathroom clicked and Gene stepped into the room. Sounds came back gently, colours sharpened, Billy Joel playing quietly in the background.  
She was used to hearing Molly beg for her return, but Alex's godfather replacing her daughter's voice was less reassuring then she could have contemplated. The man who had once upon a time soothed her nightmares away with gentle condolences now only reminded her of the gaping abyss that opened at the memory of a far off future.  
"Alex?" The way Gene called out to her, caused heat to flush through her, dispelling the cold from the pleading whisper of Evan's voice.

.*.

Utterly exhausted, but unable to sleep, is one thing she hated most. At times she was astounded that her mind could conjure up such vivid details, of a world she had created from Sam's voice on a tape and her childhood memories.  
She just wished her mind would give it a rest once in a while. A few hours of sleep without interruption or dreams would suit her fine.  
Gene snored mockingly behind her, turned on his side. He slung his arm across her waist and rubbed his face against her shoulder blades.  
She lay still for a moment, before lifting his arm at the wrist, to move away from him and avoid any unneeded embarrassments.  
However with a possessive snuffle, he pulled Alex to him, her back against his chest, his hand grazing the underside of her breast as he held her tightly. "Sleep 'Lex," Gene said before sleep took him once again with a series of rumbling purrs.  
Gradually she felt her body give into his demanding hold and relax, being lulled into sleep by the warming scent that was uniquely Gene.

.*.

Having woken up in one another's arms, Gene and Alex had avoided all eye contact as they got ready for the day ahead.  
It was not that either of them regretted how they had come to consciousness. It was that they were both acutely aware of it, having felt so natural.  
His finger had been tangled in her hair, her head resting above his heart that beat out a soothing rhythm.  
It was only when Alex moved to use the bathroom, that she noticed Gene was awake and clear eyed enough to suggest he had been for a while.

.*.

Gene walked heavy footed down the stairs, uncaring if he woke Alex's landlord. He had spied from the landing that Ray was asleep in the squad car. Chris was sat, or rather slumped forward with elbows on the dash board, looking haggard and fighting to stay in the land of the living.  
Chris sat up ram-rod-straight when he saw his DCI advancing on the vehicle. However he did not have enough time to nudge Ray before Gene was banging his fists on the driver s window.  
Startled into awareness, Ray tried to look alert. On seeing Hunt and Drake he momentarily had the decency to look abashed at having been caught out by both of his superiors.  
"Guv, I err..." He looked to Chris, hoping he would jump in with a stupid remark and take the spotlight for himself, but Chris did not look up for anything.  
"I don't want your excuses! Get out the sodding car. Chris, you too."  
Leaning against the car, Christopher rigorously rubbed his hands over his face in the hope of rubbing some feeling back into it.  
Taking pity on him, Alex handed her keys to him and pushed him towards her flat, speaking softly to him. After a moment s hesitation he did as she said.  
"Where the hell does he think he's going? Christopher!"  
"Will you keep it down?! I said he could have a kip in the flat"  
"Why don't you read him a bedtime story while you're at it? Ray where the bloody hell do you think you re going? Station! Now!" he bellowed at the figure trying to sneak up the fire escape.

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Thank you for taking the time to read.


	5. Broken Telephone

A/N: This chapter is named after a song by The Be Good Tanyas. The lyrics don't apply to this chapter, but perhaps else where....

"**Broken telephone **  
**The lines are down **  
**The wires no longer reaching **  
**Connection's gone**"

As always thank you to my magical beta Rantandrumour! ~Any mistakes you see are mine alone~

* * *

There was only silence as the doors shut behind her, an acknowledgment of Alex's presence without the risk of meeting her eye.  
She could feel it hanging in the air. The scent of pity. Everyone was trying to look busy, but she knew as well as they did that there is nothing to go on. Nothing, until the next scrap of yellow paper.  
She held the phone against her ear, scanning the room as casually as possible, to see that no one was paying her any mind.  
"DI Drake," Alex said, biting down on her lip anxiously. "What do you mean you can't disclose any information? Fine." She flared with anger and slammed the phone down hard, neglecting it as it clattered to the ground, the casing cracking on the floor.  
"Who the hell do you think you are?" she shouted, barging into his office.  
"Your DCI. Now keep it down" he said, glaring out at his team, sending them into a flurry of work.  
"I will scream to the high heavens if i bloody well like-"  
"I don't doubt it" Gene interrupted.  
"Shut up, give me the DNA results." She held her hand out like a demanding child. "Gene I swear to god I'll-"  
Cutting above her in mid-rant, he shouted. "It isn't her blood."  
Startled, Alex paused momentarily. How could he know that?  
"It was cats blood. He used it to scare you. He hasn't hurt her"  
"He hasn't hurt her." She knew this was not necessarily the truth, but clung to his words like their very substance was holy.  
There was a chance, however, that the hair could well be. She allowed herself a small moment of relief on discovering the hair had been cut and not torn from the scalp.

.*.

The faces around her had remained downcast throughout the day. Chris had turned up after lunch and had immediately been sent out with Ray to talk with any available snouts. From her desk she had been able to see Gene in his office, feet on his desk, file resting on his long muscular thigh. He was in a foul mood, had been all day. She doubted it was because he was angry with her, even though she had started their working day by screaming hysterically at him. Gene was angry because everything they had led to the same conclusion: absolutely nothing.  
The atmosphere was oppressive, she was sure she could hear her colleagues minds as they ticked over restlessly.  
"This is useless," she whispered to herself as she made her way around her desk and sneaked out of CID with her jacket slung over her shoulder.

.*.

Sitting in the records room among the dust and paper with only the dim light of the desk lamp as company was the first time Alex had been allowed time to herself.  
She had only been gone twenty minutes, but her absence would have been noted by now, if not by the Guv, by Shaz. She was flicking through file after file of reports that had come in recently about suspicious behaviour. It was as her eyes scanned over the name Elizabeth Murr and her statement that she heard the angry roar of her DCI. "You'd better hope she hasn't broken a bloody nail, Granger! Or you will be out of uniform so fast you won't have a chance to screw your head back on."  
Alex got up from her seat at the acoustics of Shaz's small voice responding with apologies and "Yes Guv, I'll find her Guv."  
"Shaz," she called from the door way of the records room.  
"Where the hell do you think you've been, DI Drake?"  
She pointedly kept her attention on the young WPC, hoping her smile was somewhat reassuring "Really I am sorry, go on, go have your break. Do you have to be so rude?" she asked, turning back to the brooding male figure.  
"She wasn't supposed to let you out of her sight," Gene said, squaring his shoulders.  
"Oh I'm sorry officer, my mistake, I forgot I wasn't allowed to go anywhere without a bloody babysitter," she said mockingly as she slammed the door. Before she had the chance to return to her seat, the door swung back open with more force than intended.  
"For god sake woman, you can't just toddle off on your own because it takes your fancy. The super wants you to take compassionate leave." Alex looked at Gene with a mixture of defiance and disbelieve, and he quickly interrupted before she could open with an acid filled refusal. "I told him you were valuable to the case, needed your insight, that I wouldn't let you out of my sight for a ruddy second. I've already broken my promise," he said collating files from her cluttered desk. "Collect your things!"

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Thank you for reading.

Unfortunately the next chapter is mostly plot, but the one after... Is Gene/Alex, minus smut and kissing, I'm not really selling it am I? "_He wanted to confess_..." :P


	6. Mother Hen

A/N: Again I shall point out how Rantandrumour is just amazing, she skillfully pointed out that my cutting of this chapter left it with an anti-climax, so with a few tweaks while I ate Sherbert Pips I added in some of the next chapters Galex. Hope you like it!

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I won't go back to the flat," Alex shouted. "I'm going to find her, even if I have to do it without you."  
"I don't doubt it, Bolly. Come on. Chop chop my office, their's a good girl," Gene smiled with false cheer. "You're spending the rest of the day in here, with me. Must be your lucky day, Drakey."

.*.

Having had time to think back on it, Gene realized restricting Alex's freedom at work by forcing her to share his office space, was perhaps not one of his best ideas.  
To begin with he had enjoyed fleeting images of them heads bowed close to one another, sharing a drink while they operated together as a team.  
So far any attempt at conversation with her had ceased with Alex coughing and waving her hand about her face to lessen the fog of smoke he had created when he lit yet another cigarette.  
Life would be a lot easier for the both of them if she would abandon this constant fight and let him help her for once. Additionally he would find it more helpful if Alex would abstain from flicking her hair from her eyes, which allowed him a delicious whiff of citrus shampoo that in turn tempted his old body in ways that were less than forgiving.

.*.

Gene was pleased that Luigi cared about the welfare of his tennant, but flapping around Alex like a mother hen was annoying and had been doing little to elevate Alex's downcast mood. When Luigi clucked over for the fourth time, he was just about ready to ring his neck.  
Fortunately Luigi's had some kindly God on his side as Alex choose that moment to give a strained smile to the host and got up. While pulling her jacket on she mumbled a goodnight to the team and left out the side door that led up to her flat. Once out of sight, she turned and walked away, from the restaurant and her flat.

.*.

It was only seven o'clock when Alex reached the helm of CID. She delighted in taking a second to note the peaceful hush before setting to work. She carried on flicking through the manilla folders until she found what had appropriated her attention earlier on in the day.  
Alex scrutinized the statement again. It might be nothing, but it could be everything. This was her potential light at the end of the tunnel.

.*.

Half an hour after Alex had abruptly vacated the warm atmosphere of Luigi's, Gene had grabbed a bottle of house rubbish.  
He knocked lightly on her front door, not wanting to frighten her if she was asleep. Getting no answer, he rapped his knuckles harder against the wooden door and called out in a stage whisper. "Alex, its Gene."  
Gene came to the conclusion that she was either asleep, ignoring him, or was not in. He curled his hands into fists and thumbed against the hard wood, bellowing, "Police! Open up!"  
Again silence. He had a niggling feeling she was not in, mostly due to the fact she would have shouted at him for making so much noise.  
A very Alex thing to do would be to run off on her tod, the very instance she got a lead on where her daughter was.  
It pained him to realise that although in some capacity Alex trusted him, helping her to find her daughter happy and unharmed was not something she seemed to trust him on.

.*.

"No Elizabeth, thank you really... No it's not, but it gives us something to work with...Yes, I know...Yes...I am going to send two officers around tomorrow, okay?" Alex said, her fingers twirling round the cord of Gene's office phone. "I will give you a ring in advance...Yeah, just to double check what you've said, see if you remember anything...Thank You...You too. Speak to you tomorrow...Bye." Alex hung up the phone and looked hard at her pad of lined paper, before jotting down a quick list of things she wanted Chris and Ray to do the next day.  
It was a shame Elizabeth had not caught sight of the number plate on the pale blue transit van. She did, however, have a good description of a man pulling a fair haired girl of Molly's age into the back of the van.  
Alex tidied up the side of Gene's desk that she currently occupied, smiling as she only succeed in making his look worse. As she straightened a few of his bits and pieces in a silent act of thanks, she stumbled across the forensics reports on the post-it notes.  
Alex flicked the file open to find there had been another note today. Why had Gene withheld it from her? She could feel the anger as it boiled up in her stomach. When had Gene had time to camouflaged such news from her? He had spent the best part of the day with her and had not said a thing. An instantaneous flash of hurt stoked the fire of anger within her.

.*.

As soon as his snake-skinned boot clicked on the linoleum floor, Alex was at the doorway of his office. He was greeted with eyes wild with anger grounding into him, daring him to speak.  
"Bolly, you shoul-" he began.  
"Don't you dare! Don't you dare say I shouldn't be here! You, you bloody pigheaded, deceitful bastard! Another note! What didn't think I'd find out? All I have been waiting and worrying-" she said voice raised and arm flying around her. Alex's anger pouring out into her physical movements.  
"Exactly! Worrying all bloody day. Biting your lip, tap, tap, tapping everything. Barely got a pencil left with all the beaver impersonations you've been doing. If I didn't know how much this meant to ya, you'd be off the case for getting on my ruddy nerves," he huffed, leaning against Ray's desk. "There was another note; you won't learn anything from it."  
She could not abolish the anger that still twisted inside her, but she managed to get her voice to come out less shrill. "What did it say exactly?"  
He looked down at his boots. "Asked who you thought I'd choose," he said, trying to curve away from the true contents of the note. He was not sure if he could say it out loud without his voice or eyes showing the truth in someone else's words.  
"It said more than that didn't it? Gene, I will find out," She was still mad at him, but something in his downcast eyes made her want to reassure him that she could take it. "Gene, please."  
"If he had to choose, who do you think Hunt would save?" he quoted methodically. "You or the child of the woman he " He walked into his office and made sure he kept his back to her as he poured a measure of whiskey. God it was all or nothing with this woman. All she did; Push, push until something broke, only this time it was himself that she was braking and every shove of her shoulder was leaving a fracture in his long standing barriers. He prayed he could keep the strain of it from his voice.  
"He he loves?" He downed the liquid in one.

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Thank you for reading and all the review I have recieved. x


	7. Another Words

_A/N: Apologies for the lateness, my own fault. The story will start moving properly in the next few chapters, for now an almost heart-to-heart. Hope you like it!_

_Many many thanks to Rantandrumour for beating me (haha sod it I'm not deleting the typo even If I do mean....beta-ing for me.) Any mistakes remain my own!_

_

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_

_'The woman he loves._' The words kept repeating constantly in her head, the faulting croak in his voice as the words caught in his throat.  
"Do you?" Alex questioned. Before she would not have wanted to know, could not have bore the idea that she would have eventually left him. It did not matter if the feelings were returned, a promise was a promise, but if she found Molly here, she would not hesitate in staying.  
"Do I what?" He knew damn well what she was talking about; he could feel it weighing heavy across his shoulders. Maybe being open would lighten the load, but he doubted it. A feeling of sickness churned low in his stomach at the realisation, he had laid his feeling to her in words that were not his. It was too late to back pedal now.  
"Do you? Love this... this woman?" Gene could not see the hand she pressed against her chest, her heart beat thudding against her palm, but he could hear what she was implying.  
"I don't think this is the time or the place," he said setting his shoulders as he turned to look at her, his features were schooled to give nothing away, but he was surprised by the lack of disgust on her face. If anything it looked like she...but that could not be right, what would she want with a clapped out old sod like him.  
"Please Gene." she moved towards him with deliberate slowness, like he was a wild animal easily startled. "Tell me," she implored, her hand now resting gently against his chest. "Gene, tell me."  
He wanted to. Gene Hunt wanted to tell her how he loved this woman, every irritating, picky part of her brain. How he loved disturbing her at four am, because a dead body had washed up in the Thames, knowing she would open her door to him; face bare of make-up, bags under her eyes, with bed mussed hair. He could not think of anything he wanted more then to see her smile. The lion in him wanted to confess how he found the sway of her hips hypnotising and the bump on her nose adorable.  
He wanted to tell Alex Drake, that even in this messed up world, where she seemed so alone, so beautiful, in the world that was keeping her from her daughter, that he would bring her home. Desired the chance to tell her he would cherished every part of her, including the daughter he had never met. Gene Hunt had been pushed and had not stopped falling since he had met her.  
He broke away from her, because he could not tell her, not yet. She did not trust him. "When this is all over, I'll tell you what this quite frankly insufferable woman makes me feel."  
"Promise," she said smiling weakly.  
"Bolly, I'll pinky swear if you really want," he said, holding up his little finger and wiggling it, with a wicked smile creeping across his previously blank face.  
"I trust you," Gene's contagious grin faltering as her face lit into a smile.

.*.

"You don't though do you?" Gene's voice was level as he broke the lingering silence that had followed them from the station back to her flat.  
Alex looked over her shoulder at him closing the front door, "Sorry, I don't follow."  
"You say you trust me, but you don't."  
"Of course I do, what has got into you?"  
"Don't lie to me, Alex," he growled out between gritted teeth, "I'm not a fool, there's parts of this case your determined to keep from me."  
Sensing this was because of the issues surrounding her daughter Alex bristled like a lioness, "She's my daughter, I don't trust anyone with her. I don't even trust her father with her. For twelve years its been me and Molly against the world," she walked through to the kitchen to put the kettle on, refusing to talk face to face as she opened cupboards and draws for mugs and a teaspoon, "The last sixteen months have been the hardest of my life, I don't have photographs, I haven't been able to call. All I have are fading memories." She bit back a sob, her back to him as she made them a cup of tea.  
She tried to work her mind around the road blocks in her head, so she could describe a part of her daughter to him, wanting so desperately for someone to understand, "Her eyes there like yours, but more of a dark blue. She has a mole on her cheek, just here," she said facing him to show him where the mole was, "She has a scar on her finger from when she was four, she was trying to peel an apple. I still don't know where she got the knife from, I was terrified, blood everywhere. Ev- her godfather rushed the pair of us to the hospital, she smiled the whole way." Alex laughed, "Nothing scares her, brave as a lion. She's clever too, can't lie to save her life though, always know when she's been reading my case files," Alex stalled in the unloading of her rambled thoughts, her eyes unfocused.  
"She sounds like you."  
Alex closed her eyes, remembering her daughter clearly for the first time in a long while. "I miss her so much its like I don't even exist without her, but sometimes it's so difficult to remember her," her breath halted and she had to take a deep and unsteady breath, "I'm not going to cry," she spoke softly to herself, pressing her fingers into the corner of her eyes, in an attempt to stop the swell of tears.  
He stood leaning on the counter watching her fight back her emotions, wanting to take her into his arms. There didn't seem to be any real words of comfort he could offer her, but he tried, "Alex, I'm sor-" "No! Do not say it, don't!" she said rushing forward to grip his biceps tightly, "Gene, Gene, please promise me, you will choose her and... and if I'm not there to look after her... You'll take care of her, please Gene, I need to know she will be safe."  
It pained him to say it, but he would do just about anything to make her happy, "Not letting you go anywhere Bolly, but if it makes you feel any better the Gene Genie will keep her safe."  
Alex bumped her head down on to his shoulder, "Thank you," she spoke with sincerity, the heavy scent of his coat pacifying her racing mind, "I do trust you, but its hard."  
"Its not meant to be easy, Bolly, just keep trying," he said his hand flat against her lower back, his fingers itching to draw circles into her skin. She was battling with herself to trust him with the most precious in her life, Gene smiled at the room around him.


	8. Toil And Trouble

A/N: My target was to write a 1000 word story.... the story isn't finished, but I'm managing 1000 word chapter, so I'm very pleased.

Many thanks to Rantandrumour for being an amazing beta reader.

* * *

Alex had no intention of letting today be wasted like yesterday had, she had a lead and she was going to run with it.  
After the stress of yesterday and the almost confessions, she felt decidedly lighter, she even smiled at the gang as they trailed in.  
No, she would not waste today, because it was going to be a good day. Today she was determined to find her daughter, whether it meant them staying here or going back she did not care. She would get her daughter back no matter what.  
As soon as Ray arrived with a smoldering cigarette between his lips, she ushered him and Shaz over to her desk.  
"I want you to read these two statements given my Mrs. Murr, she witnessed the possible kidnapping of a young girl aged around 12 to 14 with long mousey brown hair." Alex passed them Elizabeth Murr's original statement and the one she had received the previous evening. "Both statements are consistent, but I'm relying on you both to find anything that might have been missed." She checked her watch. "You have 20 minutes before you re expected at her home. Get her to show you where the abduction took place. She's an old woman, so if she cannot manage it, ask for a detailed address," she said as she handed Shaz the address and gave her a nod of kindly dismissal. "Detective Sergeant, I want you to let WPC Granger take the lead in this line of inquiry."  
"You think I'm going to balls it up?!" Ray huffed ineloquently.  
"No, I'm trusting you to compile a report on Shaz's performance. Chris is well..." Christopher was slouched in his seat, struggling against the urge to rub at his red eyes, the lids already swollen, tears rolling freely down his cheeks.  
"Bloody poof," Ray called across the room.  
"For god sake Ray, he's not crying. He was maced by a group of teenagers. I'd like to see how you would cope with pepper spray in your eyes. He's your mate. Show some compassion"  
"Oww! What happened?" he asked, talking over the rest of the office.  
"Ray, it isn't relevant to the case," her tone giving way to her impatience. "I want you to let Shaz take the ropes, guide her where necessary."  
"Okay I can do that."  
"Thank you. I want a report by the end of the day tomorrow. I know we have a lot going on, but if I can get her taken seriously for DC then it will look well on you for having had a hand in it, and of course Shaz will be obliged to buy you a drink."  
"Promotion? All right yeah, but err, has the Guv okay'd this? Cause I ain't having him get pissy with me for going over his head."  
"He's fine, I've dealt with it," Alex smiled; it waned slightly as Ray went over to Shaz.

~:~

Poirot placed a receipt, a bottle of detergent and an assortment of tea bags on Alex's desk. "Ahh thank you. Chris I have something for your eyes." She smiled and looked back up to see Poirot still standing there expectantly. "Give the receipt to the Guv; he'll make sure you get your money back through expenses."  
"Never mind," he replied, knowing he was not likely to see that money again.

~:~

Alex slapped Chris hands away from his face. "Christopher, stop it!"  
"It hurts," he moaned, crossing his arms in attempt to keep himself constrained.  
She looked at the bowl filled with a small amount of detergent and a large quantity of water. "I want you to stick your head in the bowl."  
"Erm Bos- Ma'am, don't you think that'll make it worse?" he said, peeking at the suspicious liquid through blurred vision.  
"It's fine, I read somewhere that it gets the oil off the skin. It will hurt a bit, but that is only because it's working the chemicals out," she said pushing him over to the kitchen counter. "Submerse your face 8 times for ten seconds, don't touch your face!" Alex shouted slapping at his hands again and grabbing him by the back of the neck. "Hold your breath," she warned as she dunked his head.  
"Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble," Gene Hunt quoted.  
"That's Shakespeare," Alex replied after a pause.  
"I know that. You re meant to be doing first aid, Bols, that looks a lot like drowning the poor sod," he said emerging fully from the doorway to watch her act as nursemaid to Chris.  
"It's for his own good. Chris will you quit stuggli- Oh my god I'm so sorry Chris." Chris threw himself back from the counter, spluttering for breath. "I'm so sorry. It was the Guv, he distracted me."  
"Oi, don't make out it's my fault. Your meant to be Miss Multi-fanning-around." Alex ignored him and grabbed Chris's hand as he made to wipe his face "No, no, no you'll make it worse."  
"It stings!" he said trying to pull away from Alex's surprisingly fierce grip.  
"Don't be such a girl. Need I remind you, you re an Officer of the Met?"  
"No Guv," he replied sullenly, ceasing his struggles.  
"Right DI Drake, I think I'll take over. This is going to be fun," Gene smiled as he fisted a handful of Christopher's hair and forcing his face into the 'cauldron'. "Something wicked comes this way," he grinned like a school boy.  
"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes, Alex corrected.

~:~

Chris was sat in one of the kitchen chairs, Alex leaning over him, dabbing at the skin around his green eye with a cold used tea bag. Gene shook his head, envious of the young DC on the receiving end of Alex tender care and yet amused by him being totally oblivious to the cleavage bouncing before his face.  
Alex gaze flicked from one eye to the other, studying the different colours for the first time. "You have pretty eyes," Alex said absently as she brushed the wet tea bag over his pink skin. "They'll be sensitive for a bit yet, so take it easy."  
"Thanks Ma'am," he blinked slowly as he stood and nodded to Gene. "Cheers Guv."  
"First round on you Christopher, mines a double."  
"Of course," Chris bobbed his head up and down, before going back to his desk.  
"Has there been another note yet?" Alex asked, but was interrupted before Gene was able to give an answer.  
"Ma'am, DC Carling just radioed in, apparently Bessie remembered the plates. I took the liberty of checking them out; van belongs to a Mr Alan Harper. Here's the file," Viv announced and with a flourish of the wrist he handed over the file. "He's got previous, arrested for mugging a woman outside Woolworth's in '78 and was released in '80 after serving 9 months for theft; he now runs a small business in home removals." "Viv, thank you," Alex smiled, her eye glistening with appreciation at the extra work he had put in for her. "Let s go get him!"  
"No need Ma'am, Carling and Granger are bring him in. They wanted to make sure the ball was rolling before you knew."  
"Oh Skip, that is brilliant. Tell them to take him straight through to interview room 2."  
"Granger? What the hell is Granger doing out on a call? You said she was doing filling." Gene barked.  
"Well she wound have been if you had your way." Sensing the brewing storm Viv made a quick escape. "Chris was out of the question. I've spoke to Mrs. Murr on the phone, if I had sent Ray on his own she would have clammed up. Anyway she needs more experience, she s not your personal tea maid you know?"  
Gene gave her the full force of his glare, before conceding. "Fine, but you're sitting out of the interview; Granger can take your place."  
"What no! You can't do that."  
"I think you will find, Drakey, that I can do as I bloody well like," Gene announced standing tall as an out of breath Shaz entered CID. "Granger! With me!" He walked off, leaving Alex staring daggers at the back of his head.

* * *

A/N 2: Mace/Pepper Spray treatment was found through google, so may not be true and I apologise for hurting Christopher.

Thanks you for reading.


	9. Just Ringing To Say

A/N: Thank you to my ever amazing Beta reader Rantandrumour!

The story is going to start rolling from here on as it is closing in on the end. Thank you for all the lovely reviews, its nice to know what people thing :)

* * *

"Well, I have pink wafers," Gene said, "and I talked to Harper, who is without a doubt one of the most repellent bastards I've had the misfortune to meet."  
"That is good, about the wafers I mean," Alex said, sitting in the seat next to him, wondering who exactly he had forced into buying him more. "What did Harper have to say? Anything interesting?"  
"It took forever to stop him choking on his own crap and get to the ruddy point."  
"Is this part of your build-up, so that I know just how tedious your hour of work has been?"  
"Damn right it is. I worked hard," Gene grumbled. He took a long gulp of his teeth-rottingly-sweet tea. "And I expect you to appreciate that."  
"Oh believe me, I do," Alex smiled into her cup, bracing the china between her lips.  
"Is that sarcasm in your voice?" he asked, the sparkle in his eye giving away his amusement despite this poker-straight expression.  
"God forbid," she countered in mock shock.  
"Then I'll finish what I was saying."  
"Please do."  
Gene stretched his legs out and rested one arm on the table. "Did i mention what an irritating scrotum Harper is? I nearly gave him what for when he said I was scum."  
"Since surely you were marked by the devil," she said, her smile brightening.  
"Oh really? Here's me thinking I showered real well this morning," he said, turning towards her to engage fully in the light flirtation.  
"Probably missed some behind your ears."  
"Sorry about that, maybe you can give me a hand next time," he replied, his lips pouting as he regarded her with darkened eyes before throwing her a cheeky grin.  
"Or maybe Harper could show you where you're going wrong?" Alex laughed as the grin disappeared and he shrank back from her with a shiver of disgust.  
"Much rather it was you scrubbing my back, love," He set his gaze on her with a mixture of challenge, want and something infinitely darker, before they became once more guarded. "As I was saying before you offered to soap me up-"  
"In your dreams."  
"Without a doubt," He took a swig of his now luke warm tea. "Al Removals log books are being brought over by plod. He says he only hires the vans out to people moving furniture, but I ain't convinced. Harper's not one to keep his head low, not when he can smell easy money. This is the part you're not going to like."  
"What? What did he say?"  
"Nothing. Got a message from the Super, Special Twats have got a stick up their arse about us pulling him in. They've thrown a tantrum and we have had to let him go," he said, the aggravation dominating his whole posture.  
"What do Special Branch want with him?"  
"He slipped through the net when they pulled in Jone's lot."  
"Who?" Alex queried "The big heroin shipment last year," At her look of continuing confusion he sighed with exaggerated desperation, "For Christ's sake woman! Last year. Big ship. Heroin and lots of it. Two of Special Branch shot dead. Ring any bells?"  
"Oh right sorry. So the business is just a front?"  
"Its what the Special Spastics are saying," At Alex's disapproving look Gene continued with deliberate restraint, "Special Branch want us to hand over the investigation."  
"You have to be kidding!" She shot up from her seat, unable to remain still any longer.  
"Afraid not," he replied eyes following her.  
"We don't have any choice do we?"  
"Nope, but I have an idea."

Gene strolled out into the main office, Alex racing ahead of him to collect files and ferrying Shaz along with her.  
"Raymondo, fire up the photocopier."  
"Guv?" Ray asked looking up from his written assessment on WPC Granger.  
"As in today, Sergeant. We need everything copied before the Special Bastards get here. Christopher, if they ask Plod has not got back with Harper's hire logs."  
"But they're on Drake's desk."  
"Then bloody hide 'em!" Gene growled, his illusion of patience slipping.  
"On it, Guv." Chris winked, then screwed his eyes shut and immediately regretting having done so, went to rub at his eyes.  
"Christopher!" he banged his fist down on Ray's table, knocking the wobbly contents of his ashtray across the table.  
"Sorry, Guv."  
"Sometimes I feel like I'm working in a nursery."

Alex pressed the phone to her ear after the second ring, nodding an abrupt and if possible rude dismissal to the officers who had come to collect the case files on Harper and the ongoing investigation into finding her daughter and in a clear voice she stated her rank and name to the caller, her tone filled with warmth and professional politeness. It was the complete opposite of her DCI's "Hunt" which was abruptly to the point and left the person on the end of the line feeling like they had interrupted him at some crucial moment.  
She smiled, remembering the faulting stammers of his almost admittance to his usually hidden feelings the night before.  
"DI Drake, how can I help?"  
"Your daughter is where home used to be."  
"Harper? Harper, is that you?" Alex asked in a breathless rush. Her smile was gone, and her professional exterior was wavering somewhat as she held it together.  
"I'm anonymous, do you hear? My name stays out of this. You know where to find her."  
"Wait, Harp-" At the sound of the conversation being finalised with the connection cutting, Alex silenced herself and quickly put the phone down at the fear of Evan's voice finding a way to call out to her.  
With a deep breath, Alex steadied herself while considering her options. She knew instinctively that there was no way in hell she would be able to get out of CID alone, her departure would be too obvious, but neither was she willing to risk half of the station turning up on her doorstep. Alex took another deep breath. She knew what she had to do.

* * *

Thanks for reading!


	10. The Cat

A/N: Sorry this is late and I have to apologise in advance as next weeks will be late due to a blank space in my head that is unable to finish the next chapter.

Big thank you to Rantandrumour for playing beta-ing for me!

* * *

"Guv, just got a call in," Alex announced, "Harper wants to talk to you at his office."  
Alex refused to feel guilty for the lie she was telling to the man who was more than just a boss to her. It was merely a fabrication, she told herself. She knew damn well that was Harper's voice and she was not going to allow him the mercy of remaining anonymous after he had withheld information like this from her.  
Gene would understand, she hoped.  
"Right get your coat," Gene said moving swiftly across the checker-board floor with his black coat half on and half off.  
"I'm going to stay here and help Shaz cross reference names from the hire logs with anyone that we might have a history with," Alex said.  
"All right. Chris stay here. I want Harper to be pissing himself with fear not laughter. Ray, mush!"

Shaz was sat folded neatly in the back of an unmarked Police van, Alex next to her clipping a mike under her shirt.  
"Shall we test to see if it s working, Ma'am?"  
"I don't suppose it matters, Shaz. They're going to check to see if I'm unarmed, with a battery pack like this they are going to notice it. Have you got Chris's pen knife?" Shaz handed it over and watch as Alex hid it in her boot.  
"Let s hope they're not clever enough to find the knife, Shaz smiled, listening to the whisper of Alex's voice replying from the headphones hanging around her neck.  
"Let s," Alex agreed. "Shaz have you had fire arms training?"  
"I know how to shoot, Chris showed me. I don't have a license though."  
"Good enough I suppose. Take this." Alex handed over a gun with a chip missing from the handle. "Keep it on safety."  
"I can't use this, Ma'am," Shaz said worriedly looking from her boss to the weapon.  
"It's okay Shaz, it s just in case. The sight alone might be enough."  
"Okay, Ma'am." With shaking hands Shaz took the gun. "But I'm really not sure about this, the Guv-"  
"Fine. Give me ten minutes to get inside then radio him. There is an alley at the back of the house, they might use it as a means of escape, make sure he gets it covered," Alex said getting up and pushing the side door of the van open. "Wish me luck."

Alex held her gun in front of her, elbows locked as she scanned the front of the house with both the weapon and her eyes.  
The cool she had retained while conceiving this little operation was beginning to flake away with every crunch of every footstep on the graveled path. The more she thought about it the more it felt like a bad idea, but she continued to fight the urge to U-turn and get back up. This was about her daughter; she did not have time to be scared. Alex knelt, her gun trained on the front door whilst she blindly searched in the under growth. Panicking slightly she almost toppled over and had to steady herself with both hands. She jumped to her feet, gun poised as she threw head back and forth, assessing whether or not she had been noticed. She thanked her lucky stars her little ground level appointment had only been witnessed by a young ginger cat perched on a nearby wall. She looked at the cat for a moment. Was it frowning at her? Alex did a double take. She watched the slender cat stretch and flick it's amazingly long tail, before tipping off the wall and in front of her eyes he skirted around the bushes and jumped on to the window ledge, sending her a teasing glance and slipping through the open window.  
Alex smiled. That cat was a genius. The more she praised him, the more she realised the cat looked like a certain DCI, surely her mind was playing tricks on her.  
Alex slid between the bushes and the brick house, twigs snagging her clothes and coarse bricks scratching against her skin. With a quick glance around her, Alex peered into the window as she pulled it open further.  
"Shaz, radio Gene I'm going in." she said at a volume she hoped Shaz would catch, before she climbed through the window.  
There was no way she going to tell Shaz that a pretty cat with a frown had made her change her mind.

* * *

Thank you for reading and incase you were wondering the cat is called Grumpy, I could not resist writing him in :)


	11. Little Girl

A/N: Thank you to my lovely beta reader, who never complains about having to read through all this rubbish and correcting it for me!

Sorry for the lateness, my fault... I sort of don't want this story to end, its "My baby" if you like. It was only going to be 10 chapters, then 12, then 13 and now possibly 14... I really enjoy writing it and I hope you get the same joy out of it as I do. Thank you for reading.

* * *

When Alex stirred into consciousness it felt too soon. It felt too early for her mind to be alert at such an unreasonable hour and for a drawn out second she considered keeping her eyes closed.  
Alex shuffled about in a vain attempt to get comfortable, but as she did so her cheek grazed across the gritted surface underneath.  
With the beginning of a headache parading its way around her fragile skull, she opened her eyes to be blinded by images being thrown forward by her muffled brain.  
The mental film displayed itself in flashes, grainy and imperfect, but none the less showed the house that would be and was her home in disrepair. Before Alex was able to take in either familiarities or differences, there was a shudder in the motions of her minds memory.  
A sharp crack. Pin pricks of light. Strong hands pulling at her limp and helpless body. The darkness chasing away the daylight.  
Alex blinked several times in quick succession to clear her sight and turned her head at the sound of muffled sobbing. Sobbing that silenced at her movement.  
Terrified she tried to move away, but because her legs and wrists were bound it proved to make it a fruitless action.  
"Who's there?" Alex asked, her voice rasping.  
"Mummy?" a small voice replied.  
With her heart in her throat Alex prayed that she had not imagined the voice calling her. Doing the only thing she could do, Alex turned her head and in the dim light she tried to make out the figure next to her.  
Alex shook her head, her eyes wide and unblinking, her mouth closed tight as she held her breath. Molly. She stared at her daughter. Molly's face was filled with hope and a brilliant smile blossomed before Alex's eyes. Even though Alex's heart soared with love she closed her eyes with a feeling of resignation and breathed in the scent of the damp muskiness of the room and the weak scent of fruity shampoo coming from her daughter. Alex's eyes shot open. Molly was still there. "You didn't disappear."  
"Mum, you're here?" Molly asked. "You're really here. Are you okay? She paused, staring at her mother. Oh Mum!" Alex scooted closer to her daughter, pulling against the bonds that kept her hands behind her back. They didn t move, however and she had to make do with burying her face into her daughter s neck, yearning to hold her as she cried.

With her face buried in Molly's hair, Alex committed every second to her memory before pulling away with evident reluctance.  
Alex changed positions awkwardly and manoeuvred her still tied hands she could reach her boots.  
"They took your gun," Molly stated quietly.  
"They? How many are there?"  
"Just two men," Molly said sitting forward and hooking her arms around her knees. "What are you doing?"  
There was a metallic clatter as the object Alex searched for slipped from her fingers and onto the basement floor. "Pen knife. Molls, I can't see where it went." Alex's fingers grazed the ground, unseeing.  
With the dexterity with which only a child can move, Molly crawled over her mother's legs and scooped the component off the floor.  
"I need you to cut me free."  
Molly pulled at her mother's bonds and with some misgivings brought the sharp edge over the hard industrial zip ties. Molly let out a squeak in shock as the blade slipped, cutting half way through the plastic and narrowly missing stabbing Alex with the pointed end. "I can't do it."  
"You have to," Alex commanded.  
"But whatever angle I'm at I am going to hurt you."  
Alex sighed gently. "Molly, we can't stay down here bound and helpless. They are going to come and the only weapons we have are surprise and a little knife."  
"Sorry," Molly uttered, her voice subdued.  
"Oh sweetheart, I know you don't want to hurt me. I'd chop my left leg off to get you out of here."  
Molly giggles as she slowly dragged the blade over the plastic cord, "How would you get out?"  
"I'd beat the bad guys with my leg and get Gene to carry me up the stairs."  
"Gene?" The cord snapped as Molly gasped out his name, the knife grazing Alex's palm and splitting the skin.  
Alex hissed as she sat up, smiling despite the pain. She took the pen knife and made quick work of the band surrounding her ankles. "Gene Hunt, he's my DCI."  
"Gene Hunt," Molly repeated in awe, "Before you... before-"  
"I got shot?"  
"No after that when you..." Molly choked on a sob, "You said his name."  
"Oh!" Alex expressed with shock. "Was I shouting?" she asked with amusement in an attempt to move away from the heavy topic.  
"No, you said it quietly under your breath. I was sat so close only I heard it," Molly said weakly, her eyes diverted as she watched her mother slice through the binding around her own smaller wrists with little interest.  
"What else did I say?"  
"Nothing. Just Gene."  
"Oh Molls, I'm so sorry," Alex said, her voice constricted with the pain she had unknowingly inflicted on her daughter. "I fought so hard. I thought I had to save my parents to get home, but it didn't work. For two years I've been battling to get back to you." Alex pulled Molly against her chest, rocking them gently as she cried mutely, her fingers stroking though the long tangle of Molly's mousey brown hair.  
"Do you love Gene?"  
"Molly, I was always coming home. You're my little girl. I love you too much to just leave you like that. I thought I was still in a coma, I had no idea." Alex drifted off, pondering how long it would have taken for her to realize she was dead and how much longer it would have taken for her to accept she would never see her daughter again.  
"Mum?" she whined, irritated that her mother was avoiding her question.  
"It's complicated. We're not 'involved', we haven't even kissed, but we are close. Just friends."  
"You love him, don't you?" Molly persisted.  
"He might not feel the same though. He said he would tell me when this is all over and you are safe, but he has never really been that sort of man."  
"Mum! Just give me a straight answer."  
"Yes!" Alex said with such speed she was shocked by her honesty.  
Molly smiled. "Knew it."  
"How could you possibly have known that?" Alex laughed.  
"The way you talk about him." Molly looked down.  
"You read my case files," Alex summarized.  
"I didn't," Molly said shaking her head.  
"Molls, I know when you're lying."  
"I only read a little bit." At her mother's arched brow Molly sighed, "Maybe all of them."  
"What did I tell you about reading confid-"  
"You weren't there thought, were you?"  
Alex paused for a moment before letting the remark pass.  
"Is Sam here and Annie?"  
"Annie's still in Manchester I think, but Sam's not here, not anymore. There was an accident before I got here."  
"What happ-" Molly's question was interrupted by the creak of old floor boards.  
Alex quickly stood, motioning for Molly to do the same. With her hands on Molly's shoulders she pushed her against the wall, so they would be out of view as their captors came down the slender stair case.  
"Molly," Alex crouched down so her mouth was level with Molly's ear, "When I say run, don't look back. Just run. Find Gene or Shaz Granger."


	12. She Ran

A/N: This chappie is a day early, I know! But its my birthday and I want to make sure I got it done... at some point this week I will find my muse and start finishing this baby up. :) Thank you for reading, have a lovely day.

* * *

Alex breathed deeply, preparing herself as she saw the first glimpse of a black shoe hit the last step. The figure was half in view when she launched herself forwards, catching the silhouette of guard and sinking the small blade into his abdomen.  
The person on the stairs raced towards her, his jacket brushing against the wall of the narrow stairway, the ancient plaster crumbling under the friction.  
Alex used what little momentum available to throw her entire body at him. They landed heavily on the ground and even though the pain in Alex's chest was sharp and close to unbearable, she screamed out to Molly, "Run!"

.*.

She did exactly as her mum said. She ran.  
Her senses heightened in fear as she ducked beneath her captor's arms and took the old concrete steps two at a time.  
With breathless determination, she negotiated the hallway of the building she had once called home, running through the kitchen and into the garden.  
At the bottom of the garden she hid behind the over grown bushes and searched frantically for the loose panels of wood. Even though her lungs were screaming for oxygen, Molly held her breath and prayed the slates of wood would remain silent as she inched them apart.

.*.

The tight torment across Alex's ribcage eased slightly when she breathed shallowly so as to listen to her daughter s footsteps fade.  
The criminal that had held her daughter and now herself imprisoned had regained his composure and roughly shoved Alex onto the ground.  
It was lumpier here she noted, much more grit here by the steps. She struggled to her feet and reached for the wall to aid her boneless legs, only to have them knocked from under her.  
It felt like she was falling slowly, as if time itself had decided to decrease its speed while she made her descent, yet she did not make to stop herself.

.*.

Her arm scraped over the wall of bricks and old, damp plaster crumbled against white leather. As Alex landed on the dirty floor she was showered in a cascade of grey dust. She coughed and spluttered as it covered her face in a cloud.  
Her captor delivered a swift kick to her side and brought his foot down on her stomach with a brutal stamp. Alex's gasp of agony transformed into a low moan as the pain flared across her abdomen, tears mingling with the dust. She kept moaning until she heard the click of a gun.

.*.

Gene was barking furiously down the radio as he saw a young girl appear out of nowhere. "...Trust a plonk to do a half-arsed job," he finished, angry beyond measure that the PC's he had delegated the evacuation of the whole street too had managed to allow a small girl to slip through the road blocks.  
She did not notice him, even when he had been bellowing down his radio. She ran straight into him, her scream of fright near deafening. He grabbed her arms to prevent her falling backwards and she struggled in his hold, screaming wordlessly and it was then that he recognized something in the depths of her ocean blue eyes. They were wide with fear, but in their midst was a fury and defiance he knew well.  
She kicked him in the shin and he instantly let go. "Molly?" he asked, resisting the urge to bend down and rub the bump on his leg.

.*.

His voice was level and familiar as he spoke. "Look what you've done. Harper might have be a stupid lowlife, but he did as he was told, till he met you that is. Not much point in a dog if he doesn't do as he told."  
The sound of the gun was too loud in the enclosed space. Everything seemed to go silent in the aftermath.  
Alex felt her defiance waver as she listened to Harper's heavy breathing falter and cease. The guilt ebbed through her and she stared up at the man effectively acting as her prison guard and held onto her last piece of disobedience and stared at him, unblinkingly.  
"Don't you look at me!" he shouted, cocking the gun and aiming it at her. "I said, don't look at me!"  
Alex supposed she didn't really have her daughter until this was over and done with once and for all. She looked away, ashamed with herself for doing as he ordered, but knowing she had to slow the pace everything seemed to be moving at.

.*.

Molly's eyes widened further and her look was comically like that of her mother's when she had managed to lock herself and Gene in the vault at Edgehampton. Then, without hesitation, she turned on her tails and ran away from him before he could stop her.  
"Just like your bloody mother," he muttered and took off after her, coat flapping behind him.  
"Wait!" he shouted as Molly began to climb over the wall leading into a grassy clearing. "I'm a police officer." He stopped a few feet away. "I work with your mum."  
Molly's feet scrabbled for an anchor on the wall, and once on top she swung her legs over the other side. "Prove it!" she demanded, her body leaning forward, ready to jump at a moment s notice.  
Gene slowly pulled out his warrant card allowing her to see he intended no harm. He stepped forwards to show her the contents, but she halted him with the rise of the palm of her hand.  
"Throw it over!"  
"You're going to be a pain in the arse like Bolly I see," he said.  
She wondered if she ought to be worried, but his look was teasing and his tone withheld chuckle waiting to burst free as he tossed the black leather identity card to her.  
She look from him to the warrant card a few times and whispered. "You're him." Her young voice was breathy with excitement, as though she was meeting her all time hero.  
"Course I bloody am. Now get down before you fall down."  
She threw back his warrant card. As he tucked it away in his pocket, Molly twisted her legs back over so they were dangled a foot away from an assortment of thorny bushes.  
"Must be a genetic thing this memorable entrance thingy you Drake's have going on." He trampled down on the brambles and offered his arms out to her. "Come 'ere," he grumbled with embarrassment. He lifted her slight form from the wall, not letting her go till he was sure her feet were firmly on the floor. "You're not going to go all funny and faint like your mum?"  
Molly shook her head and spun around to look at the back of the house. "She's in the basement. You have to save her. She's in love with you."  
"Whu?" Confounded by the young child's admission, he stood somewhat dumb-struck.  
"There's only two men, but they have her gun."  
"Right, yeah." Gene shook himself from his over active thoughts. "Raymondo, you're going through the front window, on my say so. She's in the basement. Softly softly like. And Granger. I have DI Drakes daughter here. Escort her to the Quattro." Gene didn't wait for a reply. "I'll have your mum back with you in a jiffy."  
He turned as Shaz approached. They all jumped out of their skin as a single gunshot rang out and a tomcat appeared over the top of the fence, darting down the alley in search of safety.


	13. Let The Girl Save The Day

A/N: I'd like to apologise for the delay and say thank you to all those who have read, reviewed, alerted and favorited this over the months I've been writing this. This is the one before the end, so I just want to dedicate it as a thank you!

Beta'd by the ever so evil and creative mind of Rant, because she says it's okay to be sad that this project is coming to an end.

* * *

Without turning back to see Molly's or Shaz's reaction to the reverberating gunshot, Gene kicked at the gap in the fence that Molly had previously manifested from, the stained pine splintering under the heavy blows given by the heel of his boot until the hole was a reasonable enough size for him to get through.  
"Shaz, he called, groping around the inside of his coat and unclipping the radio from his leather belt. "Get the kid out of here." Without further ado and with a gruff rumble he ordered Ray into the house as he himself stalked into the kitchen.  
Gene crept, not entirely light footed, but with enough stealth that his boots did not have the opportunity to make any noise on the old black and white tiles.

Ray's head and shoulder poked around the corner of the door frame and he was rewarded with the sight of his DCI pointing a loaded gun at him. He nodded towards the open entrance, acknowledging muffled voices within. His eyes travelled from the front door, up the stairs and back to the open door. He pointed in its direction and waited for the Guv to give the okay.  
Ray could feel his blood pumping faster as Gene gestured him to move with him. They both skimmed across the wall, weapons in front of them as they scanned the dark abyss preceding them. Gene stepped into the unknown, Ray as always, following in his shadow.

#

Layton and Alex looked up as they heard the encroaching foot falls. They could easily define the creak of shoes and the pebbles of dislodged concrete crunching under a human's weight.  
A sense of safety began to push back the dread that had been clouding her. Amid the dust, a grey snake-skinned boot landed proudly on the ground.  
Layton grabbed a handful of her hair, his grubby fingers entangling and pulling at the bloodied knot of curls. Alex gasped as a bolt spanned across the width of her skull, forcing her to follow his insistent tugs to relieve the unwanted sensation.  
"Move where I can see you," Layton called, his stagnant breath huffing behind the shell of her ear and curling around her cheek so that she had to hold her breath to prevent herself recoiling from the stench of decaying teeth.  
Gene moved forward, seemingly brightening the dank room, with his gun pointed off to the side of Alex's head. "Let her go!" Gene boomed out his command.  
Layton's laugh was a cackling hiss between clenched teeth. "Really Hunt, you don't think I'm going to let her just run along now, do you? Besides, me and little Miss Price have unfinished business." Layton lowered his voice so only Alex could hear as Gene look on in bafflement. "Oh yes, Alex I know exactly who you are."  
"How?" she croaked.  
"Does Hunt know? Have you told him about your funny little past and how you shouldn't be here?" he asked, his words purposely carrying across to Gene. "I think you and your pathetic friend had better drop your guns, wouldn't you agree, Hunt?"  
Ray hesitantly came down the last few steps, his glare focused only on Layton.  
"Drop it!" he sneered.

#

"Shaz! You can't leave me with her," Chris called to the fleeing WPC.  
Terrified of being left responsible for DI Drake's daughter, he shuffled around in his seat to check the girl herself was still sat in the back of the Quattro and had not gotten past him somehow.  
"Your eyes look sore. Have you been crying?" Molly asked, trying to divert the concern she felt for her mother and her unknown situation on to someone who would do better for it.  
"No!" Chris hurriedly replied. "I got pepper spray in my eyes."  
"How'd you manage that?" she asked, her head tilted questioningly.  
"There was loads of them..." he trailed off as though reliving some great horror. "They were so big..."  
"Who were?" Molly asked sitting forwards, waiting avidly for his reply.  
"Girls," he answered seriously.  
"Girls? A gang of girls?" she asked, her expression neutral.  
"Yeah. Load of 'em, big and all," Chris continued to stress.  
"Girl gangs are the worst," she said with a pretend grimace to Christopher s satisfaction. Molly only smiled when he turned to look through the window screen.

#

Shaz fingered the handle of the gun Alex had given her and pulled it out of the waist band of her jeans, her heels making slight clicking noises as she walked with caution over the Victorian tiles.  
She stood at the top of the basement stairwell listening with baited breath at the voices floating up to her. Leading on the door frame; the off white paint peeling away to reveal a sun fade red gloss under it, Shaz used it to balance herself as she single handedly removed her shoe's and neatly pushed them against the skirting board.  
She glanced down at her white feet and pink varnished nails as she moved downwards. The coil of fear and adrenaline coursed through her mixing boisterously until she was unsure which one was causing the rapid beat of her heart to thump with less control.  
She crouched down, her lips twitching into a nervous smile as she went unnoticed by all. Clocking Gene and Ray near a side wall, their weapons on the floor a few feet in front of them. She suddenly realised she really only had one chance to prove to her friend and mentor that she could live up to her full potential.  
"I guess this is goodbye," Layton said. Shaz watched as he brought Alex's gun up to her temple.  
The sound of the gun resonated around the room as two entwined bodies fell.

#

She did not dare open her eyes. Even though the softness and hard angular shapes beneath her pressed into her body and bruises already blossomed, Alex remained still from fear while her nerve endings hummed.  
"Alex!"  
The call of the deep voice watered down with panic pulled her from the hospital room, her body lying motionless as the lines of heart monitors fell flat. She was taken back somewhere warmer, brighter against the delicate lids of her eyes and that voice getting louder and more insistent until she was provoked into peeking through her lashes to see the one constant source of safety in the only world she had left.

#

Between the collection of quickening breath Gene moved stiffly, calling out her name and receiving no reaction in return.  
For a drawn out second he was sure his watch had stopped ticking and he would be stuck hanging between the unanswered question of her life or death.  
He knew he had promised her something he was not convinced he could do, not without her help at any rate. In the short time he had spent with Molly, scant as it was he knew she was special, so like her mother and he supposed that was the only reason he would have to object to look after her on his own. She was at an in-between age where she was still learning, but was unwilling to accept she didn't know everything, and unlike Alex he rarely had the tolerance to teach his own job to his team. Molly was nearing the age of a teenager and no one could guide her better then Alex.  
He didn't want to, but he could afford to send her to a good school so the same intelligence Molly's mother had acquired could be nurtured in her. But after all this child had been through, packing her off to a cold, emotionless boarding school seemed cruel. Though he didn't like to show he had a softer side, that actually gave a damn about what happened to an innocent child and he knew in his heart of hearts that he would protect her from the not so humane side of life. Not just because of a promise, but because so much of her fire and smile were like Bolly's and he would use that to keep himself grounded when everything around them seemed a little worthless and unloved.  
Just as his thoughts made it full circle her eyes opened halfway, regarding him in her slightly less composed state.  
Her jacket had slipped off her left shoulder and the pastel coloured shirt was soaking up the moisture of Layton's life. He watched her shift and regard it as the cloth clung to her.  
Her eyes flashed back to him with confusion as she failed to clock where exactly she was injured.  
He smiled what he hoped was reassuring smile and slipped his hands under her armpits and hauled her up, his hand sliding around her waist despite the fact she was steady enough to stand on her own two feet.  
Alex stared wordlessly at Arthur Layton's lifeless body, bullet hole in the head and managed to stifle her laughter at the irony into a sob of relief. It was over.

#

Uniformed PCs and forensics stormed the once upon a time home of Alex and Molly Drake as the A-Team wearily made their way back to the Quattro.  
Ray's arm was around the shoulders of his younger colleague; her features visibly pale as he tentatively assured her she had done the right thing. He handed her over to the care of the more then eager Christopher Skelton as quickly as possible.  
Alex had pulled her jacket up to hide the worst of Layton's blood from her daughter's view as she walked as close to Gene as she could without touching him. Gene took her hand and pressed her fingers briefly and whispered in her ear. Her sober expression broke into a smile as she nodded and rushed towards the waiting vehicle to find the anxious Molly sat in the back. She climbed in next to her, pulling her into a ferocious hug as she told Molly they were finally safe.


	14. If An Illusion Is All I Have

A/N: I'd like to say thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read this story, comment, alert and such like. I know it's just another one of those stories, but it was 4 month project for me and I killed a lot of tree's in the process. Sorry tree's!

Dedicated to the tree's but above all to Rantandrumour for being a fantastic beta.

* * *

**Final Chapter**

Gene let his body sink into the familiar sofa with its black and white stripes, his feet automatically coming to rest on the coffee table.  
"It's been a long day," Gene commented unnecessarily as he watched Molly surveying the room, picking up every little knick-knack she happened to come across.  
"Yeah," she said absentmindedly.  
"You wanna talk about what happened, or do you want your Mum here?" he asked, nodding in the direction of the bathroom where Alex was undoubtedly scrubbing herself clean of the day under a stream of hot water.  
"I don't remember much," Molly said uneasily. "I was feeling ill so I skipped French. I was on my way home..." She allowed the sentence to fall short, not sure of what she ought to tell him.  
She could hardly tell him that in real time her mother had been dead a month the day she ran out of school, because she just could not do it anymore, could not pretend she was fine.  
"I woke up and everything was so different. I didn't know where I was. I was just standing in the middle of the street when the van came..."  
She certainly could not tell him she was from the future, where he was just a name in a dead man's file and the only person she had left was Evan...her godfather!  
She froze mid-step, her breath hitching as the grief she had both caused and now felt for him overwhelmed her and spilled at first with a crawling pace and then so fast that she could do nothing to slow the torrent of tears.  
She cried her heart out and muttered apology after apology to the godfather who had lost the same as her and more.

Gene was at her side, kneeling in front of the TV set, before he could give himself a chance to think about it he had her cradled in his arms.  
He slowly lifted her up as he stood and carried her to the two seater sofa. Though there was adequate space for them to sit side by side he kept her in his lap and allowed her to cry into his chest.  
Like so many times in Gene's life, he was at a loss for the right thing to say, so he did as he always did. He kept tight lipped and pouted as he soothingly ran his hand up and down her back in an act he hoped was calming.  
It was almost with relief that they were interrupted by Alex. Molly extracted herself from his hold to race to her mother's side, receiving all the comfort she required from her, leaving him to ponder why he was feeling so disappointed.  
Gene needed to be needed, it was an addiction. It did not wash away the damage already done after years on the beat, but for a moment it was like he was released from the burden of everything he had seen and done.  
He could not say he was all that keen on hugging people or being a convenient shoulder to cry on, but just like with Alex, Molly made him feel as though it was a gift to be able to take care of someone, especially when it was rare to be needed by two people usually so strong and independent. They allowed him to believe it would not be just him forever getting through the day until he either drowned in whiskey or was beaten down on the job by an enemy he had collected on the way.

.*.

Alex gave Gene a grateful smile over her shoulder, her damp curls bouncing as she turned to lead Molly into her bedroom.  
"What happened? In our time, I mean 2008," Alex asked, a nervous tremor betraying her composed features as she gave into the most terrifying question about the altering of her daughter's real-life to this more detailed impression of one.  
"You died." Molly said it so simply that it was obviously the most important part of the whole story for her. "Evan was acting like everything was normal, even though it wasn't. He wouldn't talk about you. He would never leave me on my own, not for the first few weeks anyway." Molly spoke softly, her voice still broken by little hiccups. "Dad wanted me to live with him in Canada. Evan fought for custody, but we lost. Judy wanted us to be a little family away from London," she grumbled bitterly.  
Dropping a night shirt on the bed for Molly, Alex sat down and took her hand into hers. "He only wanted to do what he thought was for the best."  
"I didn't want to go... or stay, not without you. The book you were writing, I read it. The notes, recordings, they made me feel like I was closer to you. I thought maybe if Sam's world was real I'd be happy there and that maybe you'd be there too."  
The implication of what her daughter had done on the off chance that they could be together again consumed her with disorientating emotions. "No! Molly, no," Alex's eyes sparked with unshed tears. "Please don't say you..."  
"It worked though!" Molly replied in her defence.  
Alex pulled her daughter to her, so she could hide her tears and the terror that filled her eyes at the lengths her daughter had gone to just to find a way to be with her. "It might not have," she whispered. "You could have lost everything."  
"I had everything to gain," Molly said with an unwavering certainty.

.*.

It was late and the half moon was accompanied by a scattering of stars, together their gentle light cast shadows over the room.  
Alex laid with her head on the pillow next to Molly's. Watching her daughter sleep without a care was a pleasure she had been denied for such a long time that it made the simple act feel all the more treasured.  
Considering how Gene usually knocked, the tap on the bedroom door was out of character since it was only just loud enough to pull Alex back to the here and now without scaring her half to death in the process.  
A flop of dirty blond hair peeked around the gap at the doorway. Alex gave Gene a warm and encouraging smile in return to his concerned expression.  
"Is she alright?" his northern accent a mere grumbling whisper.  
Alex nodded. "Out like a light." She stroked her daughter's hair from her cheek with motherly affection.  
"Did Molly say what happened?" Gene asked carefully.  
"Yeah. Her Dad was going to take her to live in Canada. Permanently. I didn't even know she was in the country." Alex let the truths mingle with white lies, it was easier that way. "She's staying with me." She half smiled at him.  
Gene looked pass Alex to Molly, he moved further into the room to see her looking small and delicate in Alex's over sized bed. "They didn't hurt her, did they?" He did not take his eyes off Molly's body tucked neatly under thick covers.  
Alex's smile bloomed. He cared about her daughter and not in a 'Police Officer wanting a statement, case closed' sort of concern. He genuinely looked pained by the thought that anyone would dare to hurt someone so fragile and innocent. It made her want to call him so many sweet things, even though all of them would embarrass him. "Gene..."  
He could read her so easily these days that he caught on to the softness in her eyes at the same time it escaped into the way she said his name. "Don't breathe a word." It had been bad enough that over previous weeks half the station had come to see Alex was his weak spot, the little broken link in his armour.  
"I won't," she replied with a teasing smirk and a shake of her head, her eyes glinting devilishly. "But you are the sweetest, most-"  
With two strides he was by the bed, towering above her. "Quit the nancy stuff." Gene said gruffly, pressing his callous finger tip to the angelic bow of her pink lips.  
Her moist lips vibrated against his skin trying to get out a word of endearment until she slipped into almost silent giggles at his determinedly fixed frown. His blue eyes shined boyishly back at her, his pout softening his frowning brow. "Adorable" crept into her list about what a kind and decent man he was.  
He should have corrected her, Gene Hunt was not 'adorable' he was as hard as nails, a tough old bastard, but he stupidly looked into the eyes he had never truly been able to decide the colour of, hazel, sea green, no matter what he was lost in their depths within seconds. He could feel the pull of her gaze, his eyes desperately wanting to flicker down to see the plumpness of her slightly parted lips as she wetted them with her pink tongue.  
"Now you have Molly back does that mean you are, you know going?" His words were cautious, a whisper, trying not reveal too much of himself in one go. The bed springs dipped as he sat down next to her, unable to hold her gaze for fear of his uncertain being revealed.  
"If an illusion is all I have, then it is all I want. I am staying for the illusion." She smiled unexpectedly. "You have no idea what I am talking about, but that's okay."  
Gene scowled "So you're staying?"  
"Yes," she said with a shake of almost dry curls.  
"For good?"  
She looked at Molly sleeping serenely and down at her hand resting on the bed so close to Gene's. "Everything I want is right here. It is more than I ever dreamed of. I'm staying." She closed her eyes and silently said goodbye to Evan. "This is home now," Alex said with confidence and smiled adoringly into Gene's eyes when he took a hold of her hand.

"Do you remember that note I got?" she said with a nervous air.  
His brow creased slightly. "You've had a few recently."  
"The one about this woman you supposedly love."  
"Oh her!" He spoke as though he had only just caught on to the conversation. "I dare say you've met her." He observed as Alex's smile faltered and dimmed in confusion. "She's a bloody liability half the time, a proper little Miss Fruitcake. Pimm's on the lawn and all that."  
His words did not come easily and he had never even considered he would bare all to Alex in front of her sleeping daughter, unknowing that he was about to confess his soul with a phrase so simple, so over used, but the only words he knew how to articulate his feelings with.  
His brow was knotted, his palms clammy, his tongue felt heavy in his mouth, but he said it. "For some unfathomable reason I love this gobby cow. Even with her determination to have the last word, I love her..." He breathed deeply. "I love you, always have."  
"Shut up. I love you too." Alex smiled, and the longing and sorrow that had consumed the space in the depths of her eyes was replaced by something bright, something that sparkled with its intensity. She was finally free of the darkness.  
She kissed him. Gently pulled him towards the sweet union of their lips, without caution she labelled him as hers.  
He pushed her down into the cushions, his mouth smiling against hers as Gene sipped at her champagne lips. Her body hummed with delight at his weight pressing her into the mattress, his body like warm electricity against every curve as his hand explored the dip of her waist, the gentle curvature of her ribs and the tantalising swell of her breast.  
He pulled back with a groan, removing his hands to hold himself hovering above her. Alex's hand tangled into the baby soft hairs at the back of his neck, tugging gently to bring him back to her. Instead of letting her capture his mouth he dropped his face into the arch of her neck, his lips moving against the supple skin as he spoke. "I want to. God I want you, but I'm not sure I'm that good at controlling myself."  
Alex laughed breathlessly into his hair. "You're right, just this once you're right," she said, pressing her lips into his hair line, his blond hair tickling her cheek.  
He shuffled about on the bed so he could rearrange the pillows. "Come here." He pulled her to him as he settled into the nest of cushions, his arms holding her close as though he was scared of losing her. "Go to sleep."  
She tilted her head back to look up at the sleepiness in his eyes and found his love for her uncovered. "Kiss me goodnight?" she asked, her voice crackled and tight with emotions.  
"Can't get enough," he mumbled. He kissed her lips with a delicate brush and pressed down on them firmly as she responded with equal care to his touch. He sighed into her mouth as she opened beneath him and for a few seconds he indulged the deepening of the kiss, "I love you." He grinned foolishly. "But you will be the death of me. Sleep." He pressed another kiss to her forehead, the sensation lingering.  
"Yes, sir! Love you too, Si-" His chest rumbled as he chuckled at her incapability to finish a sentence due to an unruly yawn.  
_'I am staying for the illusion.'_ He smiled contently to himself, she was staying for him.

**The End**


End file.
